


Prisoner of Paradise

by JasnNCarly



Series: Johnny Zacchara and His Ladies [10]
Category: General Hospital
Genre: F/M, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-14
Updated: 2011-01-14
Packaged: 2020-06-28 12:11:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19812046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JasnNCarly/pseuds/JasnNCarly
Summary: Johnny is hooked by Sage.





	Prisoner of Paradise

His self destruction was something he actively pursued, chased it down until he was breathless. The possibility of that wreckage, the ultimate downfall, rested within the ebony of her unimpressed stare.  
  
Sage Alcazar, the woman responsible for endless broken hearts lying around the world, captured him in one night. When she was done, satisfied with their brief encounter and hungry for a new adventure, he had been released as easily as all her past conquests.  
  
She gave not one glimpse into her heart, not one insight into her family’s dysfunction, and left him with only the memory of her perfect outer frame.   
  
For years, he actively sought her out. She was his escape from the world, needing nothing more than a signal to the bedroom and leaving without so much as a goodbye.  
  
 _{There is a house in New Orleans  
They call the Rising Sun   
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy   
And God I know I'm one }_  
  
When he had settled in Port Charles, quickly caught up in the drama, he heard whispers among the families about the need to settle Sage – finding her a husband who could handle her and Lorenzo’s fortunes should he meet an untimely demise.  
  
Johnny felt sorry for this mystery man, the question mark of the equitation, because ‘he’ could never understand Sage. Long ago, she had shut down her emotion and decided to live only for the ride – those moments where it felt like any and every horrible happening was just around the corner so get while the getting is good.  
  
Sage would never change her ways; Johnny respected this, admired the quality in others which he had now come to embrace. With his sister gone, his last ‘true love’ destroyed, he had come to believe the one bit of advice Sage had ever given him.  
  
 _“If you don’t let anyone too close, no one will ever hurt you.”_  
  
 _{My mother was a tailor  
Sewed my new blue jeans   
My father was a gamblin’ man   
Down in New Orleans}_  
  
The night Lorenzo arrived at his penthouse with a proposition; Johnny was tempted to tell him that Sage was no stranger. He knew of the brunette in every sense of the word, and he was happy to step into the line of fire – needing a get away from the simple minded citizens of Port Charles.  
  
Instead, Johnny sat back with a drink and listened carefully to Lorenzo’s description of his niece.   
  
According to Lorenzo, the beauty Sage possessed was often outweighed by her hot temper and reckless social life, never mindful of her company or where her ways may lead her. She needed to be settled, to have a man who would rein her in without stifling her ability to be an asset to her family. With a clearer mind, he was confident his niece could prove to be irreplaceable to her husband and the Alcazar family.  
  
When Johnny had inquired about the usefulness of the Zacchara family, Lorenzo had explained the potential he spotted in him and his ability to stabilize a family business he had nearly lost all together. This potential had filled him with an urgency to request his partnership in the endeavor of stabilizing his niece’s world and creating an alliance which could crush Corinthos territory.  
  
Even without Lorenzo’s confidence, Johnny knew he would soon be pursing Sage once more.  
  
 _{Now the only thing a gambler needs  
Is a suitcase and trunk   
And the only time he's satisfied   
Is when he's on a drunk}_  
  
“You don’t want the kind of hell I’m gonna put you through.”  
  
Her warning fell on deaf ears as he set the ring box on the table between them. His chocolate gaze awaited her action and, when receiving none, he popped it open for her.  
  
Sage refused to glance at it, leaning forward and jutting her chin in his direction, “Be smart, Johnny. A toe to toe with me never works in anyone’s favor.”  
  
“I disagree. This is working highly in my favor.” Johnny surveyed their surroundings as they sat in the garden of the Alcazar estate, a smile spilling onto his lips, “What do you think? This property big enough for the two of us?”  
  
“Not even close.” Sage snapped the ring shut, standing to her feet and beginning to make her way down a stone path, “You and my uncle can go straight to hell!”  
  
Snatching the ring off the table, he caught up to her yet remained two steps behind.   
  
_{Oh, mother, tell your children  
Not to do what I have done   
Spend your lives in sin and misery   
In the House of the Rising Sun}_  
  
The upper frame of her slender form was hugged by her white sundress, allowing the sun to give her tan a glow and the natural highlights of her dark mane to stand out. Her heels popped against the path as she continued to speak at him over her shoulder, “I’m not going to back down to either of you. I’m not some little girl who can be auctioned off to the highest bidder.”  
  
“Is that what you think I’ve done?”  
  
Once they were hidden amongst rose bushes, she spun around to face him and spoke in an angry whisper, “If my uncle knew anything about what happened between us, he wouldn’t agree to this.”  
  
“Do you want me to tell him?” Modesty and dismay flashed in her gaze, causing him to take a step away with a shrug, “Fine.”  
  
“Wait!” Sage grabbed the material of his shirt, near his waist, and brought him back to her, “I don’t want him to know.”  
  
The calm of her demeanor signaled to him that no eyes were upon them, and she was confident in her knowledge of the compound. Johnny felt the heat on skin, none of it due to the sun, and stared down into her eyes as she slightly sunk against the wall.   
  
The words left his lips as he zeroed in on hers, “I won’t say a word.”  
  
 _{Well, I got one foot on the platform  
The other foot on the train   
I'm going back to New Orleans   
To wear that ball and chain}_  
  
Sage accepted his movement as his mouth sought hers, her fingers playing with the short strands of his hair as he attempted to lose himself so desperately in her. However, feeling his fingers graze the skin of her thigh, she bit his lip with a sinister laugh.   
  
Johnny drew back, searching her eyes for an answer as to why they were to stop.  
  
With her hands firm against his chest, her lips enveloped his bottom lip and treated it with great care until he was ready to get lost again. She immediately pushed him away, straightening herself to a stand, “I guess you’ll just have to wait it out until we’re married.”  
  
Johnny released a sharp laugh as she walked away, giving her hips a playful swing; his eyes remained on her until she was completely out of his sight, tossing one last smile over her shoulder.  
  
Bouncing the ring box against his palm, he caught it in the opposite hand and looked back at the property which the Alcazar family resided in.   
  
_{Well, there is a house in New Orleans  
They call the Rising Sun   
And it's been the ruin of many a poor boy   
And God I know I'm one}_  
  
There was no way he could ever be a part of this family, accept this dysfunction along with his own, and Sage would never be the tamed woman her uncle longed for, cool and collected.  
  
Instead, Johnny understood he was signing up for her craziest stunt yet. Any husband of Sage Alcazar wore a target among the crowd, one even his own wife would aim for.  
  
A smarter man would back out while it was still possible, not toe such a fine line; however, Johnny lived for the risk and feared no consequence. Whether his temptress was his wife or a one night stand, he would always seek her out and never run in the opposite direction.  
  
 __ **Song Credit: "House of the Rising Sun" - The Animals**


End file.
